FanHouse Keary Colbert

Saturday's preseason games may not have the excitement of Brett Favre throwing for four yards, or the unintentional hilarity that is punters peppering the bottom of a scoreboard worth more money than the entire payroll of some Major League Baseball teams, but that doesn't mean there's not some intriguing things to watch for as Week 2 of the NFL preseason rolls on.

Jay Cutler makes his debut in Chicago, Kyle Orton gets another shot under center for the Broncos without the services of Brandon Marshall, and the Lions and Browns continue their quarterback competitions.

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Matthew Stafford's final stat line in his first NFL preseason action -- 7-of-14 for 114 yards, one touchdown and one interception against Atlanta -- don't stand out one way or the other. About as average as his 50-percent completion rate.

He was better than the stats, though. If not for Keary Colbert, in fact, the stats would match the performance.

Three of Stafford's seven incompletions can be pinned directly on Colbert, who might find a pink slip in his locker soon. On Stafford's first snap after replacing starter Daunte Culpepper, he faked a handoff inside, rolled right and threw a perfect strike 20 yards downfield to Colbert, who let the ball go through his hands -- something that was a recurring theme on Saturday.

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Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

Mike Holmgren has long been one of the primary identities of the Seattle Seahawks. He took them to the Super Bowl and made them a perennial winner of the NFC West. Then last year happened. As Holmgren's retirement tour rolled along, more and more injuries piled up, Seneca Wallace had to start at quarterback for a few games, and the Seahawks stumbled to a 4-12 record.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

I'm going to do my best to avoid use of the phrase "Well, things can't get any worse," or anything like that. Really, I am. But it's worth pointing out that this is a true statement. Things are looking up for the Detroit Lions because they absolutely can't get any worse.

With two first-round picks and a ton of available cap space, a well-managed organization could make a significant dent in one year.

Did you know that Matt Hasselbeck, once upon a time, backed up Brett Favre? It's true -- he drafted by Green Bay and learned under the Great One and Mike Holmgren for two years before heading to Seattle with his coach.

So there was something oddly bizarre about not seeing the 'Beck sit this one out, while his would-be successor for holding Favre's clipboard -- Aaron Rodgers -- fought through several injuries for the second straight week to attempt and lead the Packers to victory. Which, as you can see from the title, he did.

And it was one of those MUST WIN-wins (a phrase that needs to die, and quickly, unless we're speaking of elimination games), and Rodgers did what he needed to, "rushing" for a touchdown and throwing for two more. Both were Favre-like, in that they were, individually, a long bomb to Greg Jennings and a one yarder to John Kuhn. (Who? Exactly.)

Meanwhile, Charles Lester Frye wasn't much like anyone worthwhile, completing 12 passes for 83 yards, even though it included two touchdowns. Koren Robinson was his leading receiver with 23 yards and Keary Colbert pulled in a five yard catch in the end zone, his only of the day. So, yeah, you could say everything's coming up Seattle these days.

With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. Click here to go back in time

The 1's

Kansas City at Atlanta: It's a game featuring a team with a rookie quarterback taking on a team with no quarterback. Falcons signal-caller Matt Ryan had a dreadful week two, missing on his first nine passes, while the Chiefs are still playing musical chairs with Damon Huard and Tyler Thigpen. Larry Johnson isn't impressed by any of it.

Oakland at Buffalo: The Buffalo Bills haven't started a season 3-0 since 1992, and that's exactly what they'll do if they can defeat an Oakland team that has spent this week worrying about who its coach will be, as opposed to the task at hand in Buffalo. If the Bills get that 3-0 start, there's a strong chance Raiders' head coach Lane Kiffin will be searching for a new job on Monday morning. Seeing as how they're likely without Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden is fighting some turf toe and Javon Walker can't make it through practice, there's a good chance that happens.

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

More Rankings: OVER/UNDER | Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Tight Ends | DSTs | Kickers

While you can't expect 18 catches per week, there was certainly something telling about the number of times Jay Cutler fed Brandon Marshall last week. Now check out what Santana Moss did to the Saints secondary last week and lick your chops if you are fortunate enough to own Marshall.

- Expect Jake Delhomme to heavily lean upon Steve Smith, and big things will ensue.

- Randy Moss had a horrible week last week, which is completely due to Matt Cassel being QB. It will take a few weeks for the two to develop a solid chemistry, though this week against the pathetic Dolphins is a perfect opportunity.

- I don't expect anything out of the Bengals passing attack. Start either WR at your own risk.

- I put the Seahawks two new wideouts as the last two numbers simply because they have to throw to someone on the outside, and the Rams are awful in coverage. If you are looking for a desperation plug-in, you may as well try one of them.

1. Brandon Marshall, Broncos, vs. NO
2. Reggie Wayne, Colts, vs. JAX
3. Terrell Owens, Cowboys, @ GB
4. Plaxico Burress, Giants, vs. CIN
5. Calvin Johnson, Lions, @ SF

Road Chalk and Alaskan Pipelines is Will Brinson's weekly NFL gambling column at FanHouse. Because everyone loves a loser.

I don't expect to be perfect every week. In fact, I rarely expect to be good. But Ed Hochuli ... you are killing me, sir. Anyway. We've chatted enough about that little debacle enough already, haven't we?

Besides, it's more fun to talk about things that are positive in nature ... like me being 3-0 this week on the STONE COLD TUNGSTEN PIPERS (shown with asterisks). That's right, Brandon Lang (*cough*0-3*cough*), bring it.

Overall, however, not as well, only going 8-7. But hey, we're slowly climbing back up the ladder of mediocrity, checking in with a season record of: 14-17. Woo.

Kansas City Chiefs @ Atlanta Falcons (-6)
I feel like the "Loser Bowl" starts us off every week, for whatever reason. Might wanna work on that, BoDog. The beauty of this FAIL-fest, is that the freaking Falcons are going to be 2-1 once it's all said and done. Additionally, we should be just about finished writing up the eulogy for Larry Johnson's fantasy career by the time the 4:15 games kick off.

Falcons -7